Theodore W. Laetsch, MD
Areas of expertise: Developmental therapeutics
Locations: Main Building, Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care
About Theodore W. Laetsch, MD
Dr. Theodore Laetsch is a pediatric oncologist and leads both the Developmental Therapeutics Program (DVL) and the Very Rare Malignant Tumors Program (VRMTP) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as holding national leadership roles in each of these areas within the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).
In the DVL program, Dr. Laetsch conducts early phase clinical trials of new treatments for children with difficult to treat cancers, with a particular area of focus including molecularly targeted therapies that are designed to block specific genetic mutations identified in patients' tumors. In particular, Dr. Laetsch leads the pediatric development of TRK inhibitors for children with NTRK gene fusions, and now leads a COG nationwide clinical trial studying the ability to use TRK inhibitors instead of chemotherapy for children with one of these gene fusions.
While individually very uncommon, together very rare malignant tumors comprise over 10% of childhood cancers. Given the rarity of each individual diagnosis, these cancers have been poorly studied and for many patients there are not standard, defined treatments. As the chair of the Rare Tumors Committee for the Children’s Oncology Group, Dr. Laetsch is working to advance the study of these tumors and define new ways to treat patients. Dr. Laetsch is hopeful that we can advance the care of patients with these tumors by using cancer genomics to identify targetable mutations as well as studying immunotherapy, which has revolutionized the care of many of these cancers in adult patients.
Finally, Dr. Laetsch is a member of the cellular therapy / chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell team at the Children’s Hospital. Prior to joining the Children’s Hospital in 2020, Dr. Laetsch led the pediatric CAR T-cell program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
In each of these areas, Dr. Laetsch provides clinical care and conduct research, with an overarching goal of improving treatment options for children with difficult to treat cancers.
Titles
Co-Leader, Pediatric Oncology Program, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
Member, Strategic Planning Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Division of Oncology/Center for Childhood Cancer Research
Director, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Inaugural Director, Very Rare Malignant Tumors Program, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Attending Physician, Division of Oncology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Professor of Pediatrics (Oncology) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Certifications
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology – American Board of Pediatrics
Pediatrics – American Board of Pediatrics
Leadership and Memberships
2025–Present, Cookies for Kids' Cancer (Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer)
2025–Present, Children's Cancer Research Fund (Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer)
2024–Present, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (Member, Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Guidelines Committee)
2023–Present, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer)
2022–Present, St. Baldrick's Consortium (Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer)
2021–Present, American Thyroid Association (Member)
2021–Present, National Cancer Institute (Member, Children's Cancer Data Initiative Molecular Characterization Working Group)
2020, Novartis Pharmaceuticals (Consultant)
2020–Present, CureSearch for Children's Cancer (Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer)
2018–Present, US Food and Drug Administration (Voting Member, Pediatric Oncology Drugs Advisory Sub-Committee)
2018–Present, US Food and Drug Administration (Member, Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee of the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee)
2016, National Cancer Institute (Member, Cancer Center Data Sharing Workshop)
Editorial and Academic Positions
2025–2026, Member, Division of Genomic Diagnostics Chief Search Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2024–2025, Member, CGTC Seed and Accelerator Grant Review Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2024–2025, Member, Sarcoma Physician-Scientist Search Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2024, Member, CLIA R&D Laboratory Director Search Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2023, Member, Neuro-Oncology CE Track Faculty Search Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2023, Member, RE@CH Grant Review Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2022–Present, Member, Clinical Competency Committee, Division of Oncology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2022–2024, Co-Chair, Data Use Committee: Policy Subcommittee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2022–2024, Member, Data Use Executive Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2022–2023, Chair, Developmental Therapeutics Assistant Professor Search Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2021–2022, Member, Pediatric Solid Tumor Immunotherapy Faculty Search Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2020–Present, Member, Pediatric Protocol Review Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2020–Present, Member, Oncology Scientific Review Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2020–2021, Interviewer, Pediatric Residency Applications, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2018–2020, Vice Chair, Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB), University of Texas Southwestern
2017, Grant Reviewer, Center for Translational Medicine Translational Pilot Program, University of Texas Southwestern
Education & training
Medical Degree
MD - University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Internship
Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver Children's Hospital, Aurora, CO
Residency
Pediatrics - University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver Children's Hospital, Aurora, CO
Fellowship
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Publications
PubMed
Publications
2019
TW Laetsch. DS Hawkins.: Larotrectinib for the treatment of TRK fusion solid tumors. Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy 19(1): 1-10, Jan 2019.
CM Albert*, JL Davis*, N Federman, M Casanova, TW Laetsch.: TRK Fusion Cancers in Children: A Clinical Review and Recommendations for Screening. Journal of Clinical Oncology 37(6): 513 - 524, Feb 2019.
AJ Kansagra*, NV Frey*, M Bar*, TW Laetsch*, PA Carpenter, BN Savani, HE Heslop, CM Bollard, KV Komanduri, DA Gastineau, C Chabannon, MA Perales, M Hudecek, M Aljurf, L Andritsos, JA Barrett,V Bachanova, C Bonini, A Ghobadi, SI Gill, J Hill, S Kenderian, P Kebriaei, A Nagler, D Maloney, HD Liu, NN Shah, MA Kharfan-Dabaja, EJ Shpall, GJ Mufti, L Johnston, E Jacoby, A Bazarbachi, JF DiPersio, SZ Pavletic, DL Porter, SA Grupp, M Sadelain, MR Litzow, M Mohty, SK Hashmi. : Clinical utilization of Chimeric Antigen Receptors T-cells (CAR-T) in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) - an expert opinion from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT). Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 25(3): e76-e85. Mar 2019.
AJ Kansagra*, NV Frey*, M Bar*, TW Laetsch*, PA Carpenter, BN Savani, HE Heslop, CM Bollard, KV Komanduri, DA Gastineau, C Chabannon, MA Perales, M Hudecek, M Aljurf, L Andritsos, JA Barrett,V Bachanova, C Bonini, A Ghobadi, SI Gill, J Hill, S Kenderian, P Kebriaei, A Nagler, D Maloney, HD Liu, NN Shah, MA Kharfan-Dabaja, EJ Shpall, GJ Mufti, L Johnston, E Jacoby, A Bazarbachi, JF DiPersio, SZ Pavletic, DL Porter, SA Grupp, M Sadelain, MR Litzow, M Mohty, SK Hashmi. : Clinical utilization of Chimeric Antigen Receptors T-cells (CAR-T) in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) - an expert opinion from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT). Bone Marrow Transplant 54(11): 1868-1880, Nov 2019 Notes: Clinical practice guidelines.
HL Pacenta, TW Laetsch, S John. : CD19 CAR T Cells for the Treatment of Pediatric Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Paediatric Drugs Nov 2019.
2018
Laetsch TW, Maude SL, Milone MC, Davis KL, Krueger J, Cardenas AM, Eldjerou LK, Keir CH, Wood PA, Grupp SA. : False-positive results with select HIV-1 NAT methods following lentivirus-based tisagenlecleucel therapy. Blood 131(23): 2596-2598, Jun 2018 Notes: doi:10.1182/blood-2017-12-822940.
Wu LW, Pavlock T, Patterson A, Post A, Ambrose C, Rajaram V, Pavlick DC, Cooke M, Miller VA, Albacker LA, Ali SM, Smith S, Cox MC, Martin A, Megison S, Laetsch TW.: Durable Clinical Response to Larotrectinib in an Adolescent Patient with an Undifferentiated Sarcoma Harboring an STRN-NTRK2 Fusion. JCO Precision Oncology Aug 2018 Notes: doi: 10.1200/PO.18.00101
2017
TW Laetsch, R Nagasubramanian, M Casanova.: Targeting NTRK fusions for the treatment of congenital mesoblastic nephroma. Pediatric Blood and Cancer Apr 2017 Notes: doi:10.1002/pbc.26593.
TW Laetsch, R Nagasubramanian, M Casanova. : Targeting NTRK fusions for the treatment of congenital mesoblastic nephroma. Pediatric Blood and Cancer Apr 2017 Notes: Letter to the Editor. doi:10.1002/pbc.26593.
C Allen, TW Laetsch, R Mody, MS Irwin, M Lim, PC Adamson, NL Seibel, DW Parsons, YJ Cho, K Janeway. : Target and Agent Prioritization for the Children's Oncology Group - National Cancer Institute Pediatric MATCH Trial. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 109(5), May 2017 Notes: doi:10.1093/jnci/djw274.
NL Seibel, K Janeway, CE Allen, SN Chi, YJ Cho, J Glade Bender, A Kim, TW Laetsch, MS Irwin, N Takebe, JV Tricoli, DW Parsons. : Pediatric Oncology Enters the Era of Precision Medicine. Current Problems in Cancer 41(3): 194 - 200, May-Jun 2017 Notes: doi:10.1016/j.currproblcancer.2017.01.002.
V Huynh, TW Laetsch, R Schore, P Gaynon, MM O'Brien. : Redefining Treatment Failure for Pediatric Acute Leukemia in the Era of Minimal Residual Disease Testing. Pediatric Hematology Oncology Page: 1-14, Nov 2017.
2016
M Rosenzweig, S Ali, MD, V Wong, AB. Schrock, TW Laetsch, A Heilmann, S Morley, Y Chudnovsky, RL. Erlich, K Wang, PJ Stephens, JS Ross, VA Miller, J Oesterheld.: A case of advanced infantile myofibromatosis harboring a novel MYH10-RET fusion. Pediatric Blood Cancer Dec 2016 Notes: doi: 10.1002/pbc.26377.